Chapter 654: The Return of General Qingluan (Make-up Update 2K2, Still Owe 6K4)

The Immortal Court, the Imperial Stables.

The place was unusually quiet today; outside the great gate wreathed in white clouds, few immortals passed by—in fact, they seemed to be deliberately avoiding it.

The occasional few who came to the Imperial Stables on business wore expressionless faces from start to finish, all business and no nonsense, leading away their immortal mounts and departing.

The Supervisor and the Deputy Supervisor stood outside the hall, sneaking glances at the towering Golden Body seated behind the desk within; when they looked away, they let out a sigh in unison.

The two exchanged a look and saw the unconcealable panic in each other's eyes.

"We're done for."

Where this place was cold and quiet, somewhere else must be bustling.

Today's liveliest spot in the Immortal Court was, without question, the great hall welcoming the return of General Qingluan.

Even without any official announcement, this bunch of stable hands had already received word of his promotion to Grand General—leaping two ranks, skipping over the fourth junior grade, taking command of the fourth-grade leopard seal, his immortal path bright from this day forth.

Yet their own lord refused all counsel; not only had he failed to prepare a gift and seize the chance to apologize before Princess Ziling descended to the mortal world, he had even ignored this grand occasion today, sitting quietly in the hall as always, sorting through his miscellaneous duties.

The man is a proper fourth-grade immortal general—even if he hadn't invited you, wouldn't it still be shameful not to go and offer a word or two of congratulations?

Of all those immortals crowding around General Qingluan's palace, which of them had actually received an invitation? Didn't they all still bring gifts and brazenly push their way in?

What's more, you had offended him.

The Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor sighed and groaned. They hadn't seen it before, but now their eyes were opened: so this kind of merit-immortal was not only rigid, but terrifyingly aloof.

They just wondered whether, once Zi Ling Xianzi returned, their own lord the Bimawen could still sit so calmly as he did now.

"..."

Lady Qinghua silently set down her brush, closed the ledger in her hands, and placed it in order.

She had, of course, heard the sighs of her subordinates outside the hall.

Ziling's connections up in the heavens were genuinely not bad; the matter of her being forcibly locked into the stables had already spread so that quite a few people knew.

Today, General Qingluan was returning to the Immortal Court.

In their eyes, her own Bimawen had about reached the end of his tenure.

Yet in Lady Qinghua's eyes there was not the slightest trace of panic.

She lifted her gaze slightly, a faint smile touching her lips—so long as the Master was there, it seemed, there was nothing to worry about.

Although Ziling's death could not truly solve the problem, and might even bring greater trouble, she herself only needed to obey orders and do her work well.

Just as she had seen back in Daqian.

That dragon trapped in the shallows had, in nearly the same posture, once more taken flight above Shenzhou.

Immortal cranes like clouds, peonies like seas.

A long corridor of Jin Yu stretched across the sky, leading straight to the immortal hall.

Surrounded by a host of immortals.

A man clad in blue-and-white armor walked slowly forward; that face, once brimming with heroic spirit, now seemed somewhat grim and cold because of his indifferent expression.

Faced with those words of flattery, his gaze was still, without even a ripple.

Yet the immortals showed not the slightest oddity.

As everyone knew, General Qingluan was by nature reclusive; in the vast Immortal Court, he did not have a single friend he could really talk to, nor did he have much to do even with his fellow disciples.

In his palace, there was not even a single servant boy or palace maid to run errands.

As if he had been born to be a sharp blade in the Immortal Court's service, without a shred of feeling that belonged to himself.

To put it bluntly, these immortals who had come to offer congratulations could not even fathom this general's likes and dislikes.

Precisely because of this, he had earned the name "Impartial."

The company entered the immortal hall, where the palace maids they had sent had long since prepared delicacies and fine wine.

One after another, the immortal officials raised their cups, unstinting with words of congratulation.

"..."

General Qingluan sat high in the seat of honor, yet somehow gave off the air of being tucked away in some remote corner.

He drank alone, as if the clamor before him had nothing to do with him; the immortal being those immortals congratulated was someone else entirely.

"General Qingluan."

Just then, a broad-shouldered man stepped forward slowly and drained the immortal brew in his cup in one go.

It was none other than the master of the Lion-Tiger Beast, General Hongjing.

"That worthless nephew of mine was a very close old friend of Ziling's. When she descended to the mortal world, I specially had my mount escort her. She had nothing but praise for the General—let me toast you once more."

General Hongjing raised his cup again, only to see the man before him, for the first time, cast him a proper look: "The Bodhisattva's sermon ended many days ago—has she still not returned?"

"This..." General Hongjing paused, a smile spreading across his face. Sure enough, whether mortal or immortal, everyone had something they cared about.

"The General is worried that the mortal imperial court may have had some small clash with the Bodhisattva, and that Ziling might be caught up in it?"

He set down his cup: "You are overthinking it. She rarely gets to descend to the mortal world, and she suffered some grievance not long ago. I asked her to stop by Hongze on her way back to see my nephew, and to let her relax a bit in her old mortal homeland. At most ten-odd days, and she'll be back."

"A grievance?" General Qingluan lifted his head slightly.

"Ziling was ordered to the mortal world to observe the ceremony on your behalf. She left in a hurry, forgot to get the paperwork stamped, and was locked in the stables by that newly appointed Bimawen for quite a stretch of time." General Hongjing smiled helplessly.

Yet, to his slight surprise, General Qingluan's face showed no change; after a moment's thought, he shook his head and said softly: "Acting according to the rules does not count as a grievance."

At this.

General Hongjing clicked his tongue inwardly—the rumors were true after all: the man really was nothing more than a blade in the Immortal Court's hand.

To try to get close to such a person was truly harder than hard.

Thinking this, he smiled once more, finished the cup he had just toasted with, and turned back to his seat.

As cups clinked and toasts flew, the banquet finally came to an end.

The immortal officials rose one after another to take their leave.

The Green Luan Immortal General had no intention of seeing guests off; he rose and returned deep into the temporary palace, carrying a faint scent of wine. Stripping off his full armor, he wore only a thin Bai Shan and sat in the dim study.

In the dead of night, the slight tipsiness on his face gradually faded as he seriously reviewed the stacked memorials on the table.

Time passed, unknown how long.

He habitually reached out, but did not receive the cup of hot tea.

The Green Luan Immortal General paused, slightly clenched his five fingers, withdrew his hand, and continued to focus his mind on official duties.

Until dawn revealed Bai Guang.

He stretched his arms, then reached again for the great cloak on the rack, only to grasp at empty air once more.

The Green Luan Immortal General turned his gaze, staring at the empty rack.

Suddenly, he felt somewhat unaccustomed in his heart.

After pondering for a long time, he slowly closed his eyes.

Nineteen days passed in a flash.

This newly promoted Hongze Daxian had not stepped out of the study for a single pace.

Until the sky light turned white again.

He finally set down those memorials, rose to his feet, and walked toward the exit of the temporary palace.

As an Immortal General, Green Luan possessed no means of sending messages; he simply walked into another temporary palace. Looking at the stunned Hongze Immortal General, he asked bluntly, "Why has he not returned yet?"

"I... I do not know."

Hongze's eyelid twitched. He had previously said at most ten-plus days, yet the other party had truly chosen the nineteenth day. But with the separation between Immortals and mortals, how could he know why those two mounts were delayed?

"Investigate for me what happened on the day the Bodhisattva expounded the Dharma."

Green Luan nodded slightly, turned, and walked toward the exit of the temporary palace.

"You have given the order, and I will naturally investigate carefully, but where are you going now?" Hongze Immortal General hurriedly rose to see him off, accompanying the other party all the way out of the temporary palace.

The Green Luan Immortal General gazed into the distance ahead and spoke concisely: "The Imperial Stables."

When handling matters, he rarely sought clues; he preferred to go straight to the essence and ask for the reason.

If someone met with misfortune, especially when that person held an Immortal Decree and descended to the mortal world, ordinary people would not dare to touch a hair on their head, yet she still met with misfortune—there must be a reason within it.

The conflict between the mortal imperial court and the Bodhisattva was one reason.

Mutual enmity was another reason.

(End of this chapter)